


Frank, Joe, Nancy, and Mothman

by kimmy1412



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Mothman, Mutual Pining, Pining, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimmy1412/pseuds/kimmy1412
Summary: They're going to Point Pleasant, West Virginia... To find the Mothman....
Relationships: Frank Hardy & Joe Hardy, Nancy Drew & Frank Hardy, Nancy Drew & Joe Hardy, Nancy Drew & Ned Nickerson, Nancy Drew/Frank Hardy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	Frank, Joe, Nancy, and Mothman

Frank could tell by the footsteps coming up the stairs that his room was about to be invaded by an incredibly excited Joe. He set his coffee down and saved everything he was working on in preparation. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 –

“FRANK!!” The door flew open. “I know what our next case _has_ to be!!”

“Yeah?” He sighed a little.

“It’s in Point Pleasant, West Virginia!!”

He stared at his brother for a long moment. “.. And what exactly is going on in West Virginia?”

“We’re gonna solve the mystery of… _the Mothman!!_ ”

He rubbed his temples. “.. You can’t be serious.”

“Nancy’s coming,” Joe grinned, and Frank stopped.

“.. She – she is? What, just.. she was already going for some reason, or..?”

“No. She’s going for Mothman.”

“Oh, no she’s not. Why is she actually going?”

“I told her that we’re going,” he grinned. “You don’t want to disappoint her, right?”

“Joe-”

“Sorry, gotta go pack!!” He scampered off, leaving Frank to turn his phone on and see that he wasn’t lying about having convinced Nancy, although she seemed to be considering it a vacation rather than an expedition.

* * *

Bags packed and plane tickets already purchased (for _the next day_ , really Joe?!) Frank crawled under the covers, phone in hand. The blue light filter was on his screen, but he was also wearing his glasses while he texted Nancy.

> Frank: [Sorry Joe forced you into this.]

Not even an entire minute passed before she responded.

> Nancy: [Don’t be, I could use the break!]

Joe swung in the door, leaning off of it and grinning. “Goodnight, Frank! Don’t forget, we have to get up bright and early tomorrow!!”

He didn’t look up from his phone. “Yeah, I remember. Night, Joe.”

> Frank: [I’m not sure it’s going to be a break. You know how he is.]
> 
> Nancy: [It’ll be nice just to see the both of you. And I don’t mind the woods.]

Again, such a quick response. And his cheeks felt hot.

> Frank: [Well, I’ll look forward to seeing you, too. Did he tell you he’s planning on leaving first thing tomorrow morning?]
> 
> Nancy: [He did. We might even have the same flight, actually!]

He felt more of that excitement blossoming in his chest.

> Frank: [Really? That’d be nice. I’m just glad he didn’t get the idea for a huge road trip.]
> 
> Nancy: [You don’t like roadtrips?]
> 
> Frank: [Roadtrips I don’t mind. But he has to stop at everything, so we’d never actually make it to West Virginia.]
> 
> Nancy: [Ah, I see!]

It was quiet for a while. He didn’t know what else to say.. and maybe it would be better to get some sleep, anyway.

> Frank: [Well, I’d better try and get some sleep. You should, too.]
> 
> Nancy: [Roger that!]

He typed another message, one sweeter goodnight, but he deleted it in the end. He set his phone to charge on the table beside him and curled up under the sheets.

* * *

The next morning, bright and early, Frank and Joe were waiting in the airport to board their flight. Frank was, completely subtly, keeping an eye on the crowd and searching for Nancy’s face. Joe smiled to himself, typing on some sort of blog about their “quest”. There were several false alarms, and Frank had nearly given up on the idea of sharing the flight with her when her familiar face popped up surprisingly close to him. He jumped slightly and smiled to her, moving closer to meet her. “Hey, Nancy!”

“Hi, Frank!” She was a little breathless. Her face was pink and she fixing her shoe, and her hair fell in her face. 

He loved her, intensely.

Joe passed her one of his spare scrunchies with a cheerful “Hello!”

“Thanks, my hair tie broke,” She smiled, pulling her hair into a high ponytail. As usual, Frank forced his eyes not to wander down her exposed body or over her neck or where her hair was swaying behind her. Even though he definitely didn’t look at all, his face felt a bit hot.

Joe began talking excitedly about Mothman and all the theories he knew and a few he was clearly making up on the spot. Frank and Nancy heard him out, submitting doubts occasionally but humoring him for the most part. Their flight was long, so they wanted to let him get the most energetic part of it out of his system before they boarded.

Frank and Joe had seats only a few rows behind Nancy. She watched movies during the whole flight. Frank usually preferred to sleep through a flight, but he found it difficult, and not just because Joe was barely containing his excitement and elbowing him whenever he (very briefly) glanced at Nancy.

|…. Maybe we’ll get a minute alone… no, that’s – she’s still with Ned, most likely….|

Still.. nothing wrong with planning for the odd opportunity, was there?

* * *

By the time they arrived, they were all pretty tired.

“Everything okay? Did you get your luggage, Joe? Nancy?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m all set,” Nancy nodded.

“Sooooooooooooo,” Joe grinned, “It happens that we’re staying in the same hotel. So let’s all head over together!”

“Oh – is that true?” He blinked, looking at Nancy.

She nodded, smiling. “I think we’re even on the same floor. Although it’s not a big place, so I guess it’s not that much of a coincidence.”

They got checked in and went to their separate rooms to unpack. Frank sat on his bed with a sigh. “Joe…. Please explain.”

“Explain what?” He grinned, tossing his suitcase on his bed.

“Joe….”

“Look, you’ll see, okay? Just get some sleep,” he grinned. “We’ve got to hunt for Mothman tomorrow, right?”

Frank rubbed his temples. “…. Okay. Let’s get some sleep.”

* * *

Joe fell asleep after a few minutes of tossing and turning. Despite being exhausted from the trip, he couldn’t seem to relax. He got up, heading to the lobby to try a cup of tea.

Nancy was waiting for him, sipping hot chocolate. She greeted him with a quiet smile and he responded in kind. Soon they were sitting together, sipping their drinks and enjoying the quiet. Nancy seemed a little strained to him. He kept quiet, waiting to listen if she wanted to talk or give her quiet if she just wanted to rest. Time passed like that, with the sounds of quiet footsteps and pages turning and the heater humming. Neither spoke, and in the end they both got up to go to their rooms for the night. And after one quiet goodnight each, nothing needed to be said.

* * *

They both slept in fairly late. Joe allowed this, since he planned on a late night forest walk, but he decided to find the hotel pool and swim, and by the time he was done, he was hungry.

“Okay, Frank, you gotta wake up!!” He jumped on his bed. “It’s almost noon and I’m starving and they have Mothman Pizza!! MOTHMAN PIZZA, FRANK!!”

“Ughhh…. Yeah, okay.. ‘m getting up…” He got up slowly, hair mussed and sticking up. Joe rushed him to get dressed and didn’t give him time to comb his hair down before dragging him out the door and knocking enthusiastically on Nancy’s. “Naaan!! You up? C’mon, we’re gonna go try the Mothman Pizza!!”

“Just a minute!” She sounded like she was in a good mood. Frank finger combed his hair down as much as he could, cursing Joe’s overenthusiasm silently, but when Nancy left her room he didn’t much care anymore.

|Is that a new lip gloss?|

“Ready to go?” She smiled.

“Yeah.” His voice was quiet in a way he hoped could be attributed to the sleep still in his eyes.

“Okay, so we have to take a right and then a left,” Joe told them cheerfully, leading the way down the stairs.

“Joe, I know you’re excited about the Mothman Pizza, but can we grab some Mothman Coffee?” Nancy smirked, glancing at Frank’s bedhead.

“I’m SO glad you asked!!”

They walked together to The Coffee Grinder and, sure enough, they literally had a flavor called “Mothman Coffee.” Frank opted for the hazelnut, still miffed about his wake-up call. Nancy tried the mothman coffee, and Joe did as well, although Joe’s was about half sugar and cream.

“Amazing!! And they have cookies, too!!” He crowed.

“Save the cookies for after the pizza,” Frank advised.

One Mothman tank top, bag of 'droppings', set of cookies and pizza later, Joe decided he needed to see the mothman statue. And what a statue it was.

“It’s incredible, the detail and dedication to the Mothman they had,” Joe noted solemnly.

“Yeah… But why did they put so much of that dedication into his ass?”

Nancy sighed, unable to hide her smirk. “You know why.”

“OKAYYY, so, let’s just clarify, uh, no one here wants to fuck Mothman.”

“No one brought that up, Joe.” Frank pinched the bridge of his nose. “Could go for more coffee, though.”

“I’m just saying, just for the record!!”

“Let’s go get some coffee,” Nancy said warmly, leading Frank towards the shop. “We’ll catch you later, Joe. Let us know what you find, okay?”

“Yeah!! Yeah, sure thing!!”

* * *

They sat together in the café, quiet once again. Nancy was cheerful, but still somehow a bit tense. He wondered what she was thinking.

He tried the Mothman coffee this time. “Hm. It really is good.”

“Isn’t it?” She smiled, cupping it in her hands. “It’s a bit chilly, so it’s nice to have something hot.”

And again they sat silently together, both tense and comfortable in each other’s presence.

* * *

Later that evening, after Joe had put his souvenirs back in his room, they got a rental car to go out to where the Mothman had most often been spotted. Joe was on edge, excited and nervous and scared and a bit chattier than usual. Frank was nervous, albeit for different reasons, but to him Nancy just seemed to be looking forward to the case.

|Is she really taking this seriously?|

“It’s creepier in the dark, isn’t it?” Joe looked out the window.

“You’ve already seen it?” Frank was in the driver’s seat, following the directions on Joe’s phone.

“Yeah. I went to check it out before dinner. It’s kinda pretty during the day. But at night… Well, that’s when we’re most likely to see Mothman himself!!”

“Uh huh.”

“Tell us about the first sighting,” Nancy suggested.

“I’m so glad you asked!!”

Joe chattered on, a good (if overenthusiastic) storyteller. Nancy looked mostly at him, but she glanced at Frank more often than usual – she was, wasn’t she? Or was it his imagination?  
|Eyes on the road, Frank…|

He parked and they got out together. The dark and quiet atmosphere really was unsettling, especially with the shadows the flashlights cast on the trees. Joe gripped his flashlight tightly and led the way, walking quickly and keeping quiet. Undoubtedly, listening for any signs of Mothman.

Nancy was close behind him, smiling to herself at Joe’s earnestness. Frank walked side-by-side with her, keeping an eye out for signs of trouble unrelated to Mothman.

After crunching through the leaves for a while, Joe gasped. “A bunker…”

It was covered with graffiti. Frank spotted glitter and a few bottles in the corner. |Popular party spot…|

“Maybe Mothman brings things in here,” Joe whispered. “There’s bottles and stuff.”

“I think that was high schoolers, actually,” Nancy whispered.

“Or Mothman.”

“Joe, there’s a kind of path over here,” Frank whispered to him. “Want to follow it?”

“Of course!! Lemme just bug this place real quick.” He pulled out a complicated-looking device.  
“Where did you get that??”  
“Don’t worry about it!! Just head down with Nancy, I’ll get this set up soon!”  
“I- fine, fine. If it’s okay with you, Nancy?” Frank stammered, looking at her.  
“Sure thing. If you’re sure you don’t need help, Joe?”  
“It’s better if we split up!! Just remember to take a video if you see anything!!”

They walked for a long while, although it seemed that it was a deer path and probably wasn’t going anywhere in particular. Once they were well out of Joe’s hearing range, Nancy started to speak.

“I wanted to let you know… Um, Ned and I decided it wasn’t going to work for us.”

Frank’s heart and breathing stopped for a solid few seconds. “… What?”

“We decided to break up,” she clarified slowly. “It was a while ago, actually.”

Frank swallowed. “… Oh. Right, uh… Okay. Yeah. I’ll.. let Joe know, too.”

“Uh, I mentioned it to him earlier, actually…”

“.. Oh. Mhm… When?” |When did you tell him and not me?|

“.. Does it, um. Does it particularly matter?” Nancy looked defensive, face a little redder than the chill allowed for.

“No, no, you’re right, it doesn’t. Um, I’m sorry to hear about that,” he tried his best to sound sincere.

Nancy studied him. “Are you?”

He stopped walking, turning to face her. “… What are you expecting me to say? Or.. what are you hoping for?”

She pulled her phone out and dialed her voicemail, pulling up one specific message. His ears went red as he recognized his own voice.

> _...that I’ve always-"_

She let the message end and put her phone away. “... You’ve always what?” She asked him calmly.

He met her eyes, feet shifting slightly beneath him, full of a feeling he could only describe as fight or flight. This wasn’t what he’d imagined in the slightest, and yet, wasn’t it perfect?

“… loved you,” he answered, his voice steady.

Her eyes changed, and then with a rushing feeling there she was in his arms, holding onto him tightly, warm and soft, giving him a rush of pure energy, her lip gloss tasted like chocolate –

**_REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!_ **

Nancy jumped, grabbing for their dropped flashlights. Frank did not care if that was Mothman himself, he was about to be pissed. And then, worse, he recognized that it was not Mothman. It was his brother.

“Joe, what the hell was that??”

Joe came into sight just down the path, grinning. “My Mothman call!! What do you think?”

“… It’s great, buddy. It’s great.”

Nancy straightened out her shirt a little. “Well. I think this is a dead end, actually. Why don’t we head back and see if anything’s moved?”

“Great idea, Nan!!” Joe cheerfully led the way, too pleased with himself to remember his fear from earlier.

Frank glared at his back, but Nancy’s hand slipped into his and then it wasn’t so bad after all.

* * *

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw!! It was a giant winged – thing!! Its eyes glowed red when I shone the flashlight on it!! It was definitely Mothman!!”

“And we told you, okay.”

“So this is a big deal!!! Just because you were too busy making out to see it- ”

“We were not!!”

“Then you should’ve seen it!! I knew it was weird when you told me to drive…”

“We just couldn’t see because we were in the back seat,” Nancy told him warmly. “You’ll just have to keep researching on what exactly Mothman could be.”

“Don’t encourage him…”

“That’s a great idea, Nan!!”

**Author's Note:**

> uh i hope that was enough mothman content for ya but if you want more of that juicy mothman ass feel free to leave a comment fdshklsdfhklahfsaklhfksjlfsdfhkadsjfhaskldjfklhadsf


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